MacBook Pro - Macbook Pro 13's battery life

I have just bought a new Macbook Pro 13'. I have enjoyed it very much. People have told me that it can last for 7-8 hours. However, I usually get like 5-6 (as it appears on the screen) hours out of it. Is it normal ?

Thank you. Also, what is also the right way to charge the battery ? For the first time, I used up the battery, then charged for 8 hours, then drained it again, then charged for 8 hours. After the first 2 charges, I use up the battery until it dies and then full charge again. Am I using the right way to charge ?

given the mbp's battery life, that calibration sounds like a time consuming process right now i get an entire fairly intense day of use at work and home and still don't need to charge it. if it gets to where i need to charge it during the day i might do it...in fact the only time the battery suffers at all or the laptop heats up at all is when i'm running vista ultimate...sadly for work and a few other applications i still need it and can't wait for windows 7. have to say though, vista runs better on my 2gb mbp than on a 4gb ddr3 p-series intel dell! i can't believe i've put off this purchase for so long and that i was able to put up with my emachines desktop for so many years.

you can charge it up any time. Plugging in power will save your battery (making it go through fewer cycles). I always make sure to use the battery occasionally, but I think that's a hangover from when you HAD to run down batteries or you'd nuke them.

Waiting for the game that takes full advantage of a 124bit, 3.5GHz, 8-core, 64Gig-RAM system.

install coconut battery, it will give you a good, periodic view for your battery cycles and health. coconut battery
I guess, by monitoring how many cycles you had, you can maintain their number, hence have the least cycles possible. I mean, yes, you shouldn't have many loadcycles (shouldn't use the battery alot, plug it when near a supply,etc), but also you should use it from time to time. maybe 1-2 cycles per week .

install coconut battery, it will give you a good, periodic view for your battery cycles and health. coconut battery
I guess, by monitoring how many cycles you had, you can maintain their number, hence have the least cycles possible. I mean, yes, you shouldn't have many loadcycles (shouldn't use the battery alot, plug it when near a supply,etc), but also you should use it from time to time. maybe 1-2 cycles per week .

On its website, Apple says to cycle the battery at least once a month. I had the same question myself when I got my MBP. Now, I keep it plugged in with the intention of cycling at least once, maybe twice, a month.

Batteries are consumables, and the science of conserving their useful life is not an exact one. The advice you received from bobtomay is exactly what I would say - use the computer the way you want to and don't sweat it.

Under normal usage patterns, Apple claims 1000 cycles, which is about 3x that of a normal laptop battery. Since most laptop batteries under normal use last about 2 years, I would imaging you'll get about 5 out of that battery without having to do anything special.

Liquid and computers don't mix. It might seem simple, but we see an incredible amount of people post here about spills. Keep drinks and other liquids away from your expensive electronics!